Hong Kong, April 26 (CNA) The United States would like to see China to take steps to make Taiwan comfortable in engaging in cross-Taiwan Strait dialogues, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell told the media Monday.
"We would very much like to see China to take steps and to encourage Taiwan and to make them feel comfortable (in cross-Strait dialogues) ... We believe that overall process of this dialogue is important, " Campbell responded to a reporter's question in a keynote speech, titled "American Engagement and Asia", in the 2010 International Media Conference.
Campbell acknowledged that there has been a security dimension in the cross-Strait relations and said that the U.S. have urged restraint on both sides.
Reviewing recent U.S.-Taiwan relations, the veteran diplomat said that one of the biggest source of concerns in the past several years was "unintended development" and "accidents, " but there has been an increase of confidence since then.
Campbell reiterated that the U.S. maintains a unofficial relationship with Taiwan, which has been maintained by succession of administrations, and the commitment is legally binding by the Taiwan Relations Act.
"We have confidence in our broad relationship and encourage dialogues between two sides. " he said.
Asked on what role the U.S. will play under the circumstances of the warming cross-Strait ties, Campbell did not give a direct answer but said that "I see no concerns (from the U.S.) of a warming relationship between Taiwan and China." In terms of China, Campbell affirmed in the one-hour speech that the U.S. maintains a stable and constructive relationship with China.
However, he said that current U.S.-Sino relations are no longer a "monotone" and "something like black and white" during the Cold War era. The relations are now multi-layer and more diverse and complicated, containing a wide range of factors from currency to trade, and from Iran to North Korea, all of which make the relations "extraordinary complex".
The bilateral relations suffered certain degree of a setback during U.S. President Barack Obama's second year in office during which China was not happy with Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama and the U.S. arm sales to Taiwan, he recognized.
But at the same time, the U.S. will keep up its cooperation with China on many issues. For example, China could play a role on Korean Peninsula, he said.
Campbell said that the U.S. presence in the Asia Pacific region is still strong and maintains good relationship with its traditional allies as well as several emerging countries, despite a widespread perception of a gradual U.S. power decline in the region over the years.
The U.S. will meet the challenge by increasing high-ranking official visits to the region and interactive with the Asian Pacific countries regularly, he said.
Almost 300 international politics experts and media members attended the three-day "2010 International Media Conference" from April 26-28, which was organized by the East-West Center, established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to promote better understandings of nations of the U.S., Asia and the Pacific, and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong. (By Chris Wang) enditem